Firm willing to pay for damage of bridge

The management of MTKR Damar, the ship that rammed the Marcelo Fernan Bridge last month, is willing to enter into a compromise agreement with the Mactan Cebu Bridge Management Board.

Department of Public Works and Highways legal counsel Augustinito Hermoso said that the ship management already deposited P500,000 as cash bond for the repairs of the damaged portion of the bridge.

But Hermoso also said that they are still not discounting the possibility of filing a case in court against the ship management.

The MTKR Damar was carrying molasses while it was on its way to Cagayan de Oro City when it hit the substructure of the bridge last March 10.

Despite sustaining a hairline crack, Hermoso said the bridge is still structurally sound.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, the MCBMB chairman, suggested the installation of security cameras at the bridge instead of the board spending P116,000 per month for salaries of the security guards.

MCBMB vice chairman Pericles Dakay said aside from this, the police must also formulate a security system with cooperation from the barangays that host the bridge.

Eliseo Ceniza Jr., who represented Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes during the bridge board meeting, said he would inform the mayor about the plan of the board to take over the management of the UN Avenue traffic lights that are no longer working because of the city’s unpaid electrical bills to the Visayan Electric Company.

The governor also instructed DPWH for the immediate repair of the traffic lights along M.L. Quezon and M. Patalinghug Avenue in Lapu-Lapu City.

Dakay said there is a need to hire a full-time administrator of the bridge. – Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/BRP